Engage to Change: Welsh Government Minister visits The National Centre for Mental Health to see supported employment for young people with learning disabilities in action.
The Minister for Culture, Skills and Social Partnership, Jack Sargeant MS, and Dr. Hefin David MS visited the National Centre for Mental Health to learn how the Engage to Change project has worked across Wales to support young people with learning disabilities and/or autism into employment.
People with a learning disability have a low estimated employment rate of just 4.8% (BASE 2023). Engage to Change was a seven-year, pan Wales project, funded through the National Lottery Community Fund and supported by the Welsh Government to help young people with a learning disability and/or autism to tackle employment barriers and transition into a paid job using a supported employment model with job coaching. The project successfully provided employment support to 1075 young people and delivered 244 supported internships, gaining an overall paid employment rate of 41%.
Cardiff University were the first employer and the first university in Wales to host supported internships through the project, working with Cardiff and Vale College and Elite Supported Employment Agency.
The visit was hosted by Dr. Elisa Vigna and Andrea Meek, from the Engage to Change research team, together with project manager Angela Kenvyn from lead partner Learning Disability Wales and Engage to Change Lead Ambassador and CU honorary research associate, Gerraint Jones Griffiths.
Jack Sargeant MS and Dr. Hefin David MS were taken on a tour to meet Jacob Meighan, Tyler Savory and Andrew Worsey who are all now employed within NCMH following successful supported internship placements through Engage to Change. Jacob now works as a research administrator on the Engage to Change research team, while Tyler and Andrew both work as admin assistants in the NCMH.
Each person met the Minister, chatted about the work that they do, how they had benefited from their internships, the support they had to gain paid employment and the impact working has had on their confidence and lives. Mark Coles, line manager to Andrew and Tyler also described how they had become a vital part of the team.
Tyler has spoken at several events highlighting the difference having a paid job and good support has made to his life. He told the Minister that he hadn’t known such roles were available before starting his internship, but now he is happy and proud to be employed and work with the team on the important research carried out.
Following the tour Tyler, Andrew and Jacob joined an informal discussion about how Welsh Government can support young people with learning disabilities and autism into employment, including the need for more focus on better transition from education, how the Welsh Government should promote better joint working between Ministers to support employment and an urgent need for a national Job Coaching strategy.
Dr. Vigna, who leads the Engage to Change research team said “Engage to Change research shows how supported employment and job coaching can find people with learning disabilities and autism paid jobs. However, there is a lack of availability of skilled job coaching offered through government schemes to support people seeking employment. The success at Cardiff University is due to the commitment of the university together with the continuity it offers to the young people as they transition into the world of employment.”
Engage to Change has pioneered the use of supported internships in Wales and much has been learned about how work-based learning can be blended into a host business. Project Manager Angela Kenvyn said:
“We were delighted to have this opportunity to showcase the work of Engage to Change. The success of the programme is due to the commitment and strong partnership between all involved, together with the willingness of the young people to try something new. We are hopeful that discussions with Mr Sargeant MS and Dr. David MS will be fed back to the Senedd Committee and Welsh Government.”
Engage to Change: Oral evidence for disability employment gap at Equality and Social Justice Committee E2C Senedd Oral Evidence Disability Emp Gap
You can read the latest report from Engage to Change here: Engage to Change: Service to Strategy
Easy read version: Easy-Read-Engage to Change: Service to Strategy
Tyler speaks at “Knowing me Knowing You” event: Tyler Savory – my journey
Mark Coles talks about mentoring, transition and supporting employment mentoring, transition and supporting employment
You can read more about the work of the Engage to Change project here: Engage to Change research-evaluation
For more information about Engage to Change or supported employment research please contact Dr. Elisa Vigna: Vignae@cardiff.ac.uk
The Engage to Change project is no longer accepting open referrals across Wales, however Cardiff University are continuing to offer Supported Internship placements in partnership with Cardiff and Vale College, working with Elite Supported Employment Agency. For more information please contact Noam Devey DeveyN@cardiff.ac.uk